Mucking in the Marsh - oil spill response in Louisiana

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Opening Day

Just getting started

For all my friends and family. I needed a good place to get thoughts and photos out while I'm here and Iara's amazing and ongoing trip inspired me here. This will be the unofficial gathering place of all my random thoughts, ideas, ruminations, and yes photos!

Thus far the trip has been a whirlwind of new faces, great food, humidity. The other crews are both arriving for the first time and returning from excursions. There has been a lot of activity here for a few weeks with some great insight into the people, place and certainly the scale of the spill. My first impressions are much of what I expected. The scenery is gorgeous and green, haven't seen any marsh yet, but we are heading out tomorrow for some recon. The people are super friendly, the food rich and savory. Last night even included a cup of Gumbo, yep, Cory found his coping mechanism.

The workload is still an ever evolving beast. Fortunately for me I get to steer clear of all of the bureaucracy - permitting, and such. It’s making me feel a bit unhelpful, but plans will settle into place soon.

I haven’t had a chance yet for photos or bird watching. Hopefully this afternoon, if the heat and humidity don’t keep me stuck close to home base (yep you guessed it…FEMA trailer). We do eat at a beautiful place down the road that I’ll definitely get photos of soon. So far some of the basic birds only; Black Vulture, Northern Parula this morning.

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